Building an inclusive America

At the Interfaith Youth Core, we think this is
about something else as well: building an inclusive America.  In the past, groups ranging from
Baptists to Catholics to Jews have been excluded.  The current exclusion of Muslim Americans is manifesting
itself in everything from vocal and ugly protests against mosques from California
to New York to alarming levels of prejudice. According to a recent Time poll,
nearly a third of voters don’t think Muslims should be able to sit on the US
Supreme Court or run for President. What’s more, almost a quarter of Americans
STILL think that Obama is a Muslim.

The political philosopher Michael Walzer wrote “The
challenge of a diverse society is to embrace its differences while maintaining
a common life.” America is the most religiously diverse country in the world
and the most religiously devout nation in the West. Here’s the bottom line:
intolerance of our neighbors weakens the bonds of our diverse nation. This
means intolerance is not the problem of any one ethnic or religious group –
it’s a problem for America.

It’s telling that though the Time poll reveals
widespread prejudice, almost 2/3 of respondents don’t even personally know a
Muslim American. We know from a 2009 Pew Forum study that individuals who are
familiar with Islam and/or know a Muslim personally demonstrate a more positive
view toward the religion and decreased prejudice against Muslims. America is a
nation with more Muslims than Episcopalians, and as Americans get to know their
Muslim neighbors, they might be surprised by how this interaction changes their
perspective.

Consider the story of the Rev. Myra Bethke, who
tragically lost her brother in the attacks on the twin towers on 9/11. Rev
Bethke has a very different response than the 9/11 families who oppose the
Park51 project.  She says that she
doesn’t think of Muslims when she thinks of her brother’s death. Instead, when
she thinks about Muslims, she recalls those who she shares a table with at her
church’s interfaith Thanksgiving services, and the mosque that her confirmation
students visit. She says, “This, to me, is Islam. Not the people who got
together and decided to hijack the religion as they hijacked the planes.”

Rev. Bethke suffered the ultimate loss on September
11, 2001. But she supports Park 51 and is a member of the bereavement group who
announced their support for the project back in May, “September Eleventh
Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.”

If more Americans knew their Muslim neighbors, more
of us could start getting the “Us” and “Them” right in this controversy: “Us”
being Americans of all backgrounds, including Muslim Americans, and “them”
being extremists from any tradition. We must separate the 9/11 attackers –
violent terrorists – from our fellow Americans.

Our legislators in Washington have a unique
opportunity at this moment in history to speak to their constituencies about
the inclusive arc of America.  They
can inspire people to engage in interfaith partnerships that can bring
tremendous value to local communities that make up our great nation.

We must remember what Rev. Bethke teaches us: in
America, we don’t let the crimes of a few define an entire community. In
America, a community group should be able to build institutions that serve the
common good wherever it is legally allowed according to local ordinances, especially
if those institutions advance our nation’s highest principles, such as
religious pluralism.

In America, we don’t discriminate against people of
any religion.

In America, we will not be divided by faith.

In America, everyone has a place.

In America, we are better together.

Eboo Patel is founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based non-profit working to positively engage religious diversity and build interfaith cooperation nationwide. He is author of Acts of Faith and writes a featured blog for The Washington Post, The Faith Divide.